Dragon One
by deltaprime11
Summary: In the Year 2553, The planet is almost entire untied under one flag, the only group's that remain are zealot group's worshipping dead religions and beliefs. The military has become completely automated, but some worry that a human touch is still necessary and so the A.F.P'S were created, these Artificial Frame Pairings consist of one human with control of an element and an A.I.
1. Welcome To Delta

**A/N: This is the replacement for 'Natsu's New Flame' Again I apologize for the sudden rotation, regardless I hope you enjoy this fiction. By the way, this story will be Naza, it will take a little while to get to that point, so you will all have to bear with it for awhile.**

* * *

The only sound in an all but baron hallway, was that of a woman in high heels making her way towards the office at the end of the hall, she held a small stack of files in her hands as she watched the door at the end of the hallway impassively, the woman wore black pants and a dark blue overcoat, her eyes were an odd shade of purple and her analytical skills are what got her this job in the first place, her heels clacked against the floor as she walked up to the door, she knocked three times before she heard the voice from the other side permit her entry.

She opened the door and bowed slightly to the aging commander in front of her.

"You requested the files on my team, Commander." She announced politely.

"Ah, Cana yes I did, how are they going?" The man asked familiarly, he was not one for formalities.

"Prepping for the Op in Afghanistan as we speak, sir." She bowed again.

"I have told you a million times, just Makarov is fine," The man replied as he accepted the files from the woman.

"S-Makarov, I am worried about the leader, his mental state is not changing he remains without any kind of emotion at all." Cana explained.

Makarov opened the top file from the stack he was handed "Yes, I know. That boy is what many once considered the perfect soldier."

"But isn't the point of these teams, to retain a human touch in the military, With the bulk of the armies automated people seem to think humans can't fight better than machines." Cana responded.

"Yes, the A.I soldier pairing was created for that purpose, however it was also created for the purpose of containing the rare abilities these operatives have." Makarov explained as he flipped the file he was reading so she could examine it.

She read it down.

Name: Natsu Dragneel.

Affinity: Fire.

A.I: Theta.

Call sign: Dragon

Operational success: 100%

Rank: Captain of Delta operation's unit.

Current undeceased member's: Dertega, 'Sharps', Montana and Conrad, 'Fissures', Davidson.

Psychological status: Has not made an emotionally based decision in 15 years, he has lost four operative Unit's in the line of duty.

Lethality rating: Hyper Lethal.

Cana looked up from the paper and sighed "This is what I am talking about, I have heard of captain's who can make decisions without allowing emotions to cloud judgment, but for it to have no effect, he has lost more members than any other operative Unit ever has!"

Makarov nodded "He may have a one hundred percent success rate, but no one can remain completely dead inside for ever…Someone always lights the fire." Makarov spoke as if he was talking from experience.

Cana frowned and nodded "The replacement member will be arriving soon then we will move out, please try to get through to Natsu. He does see you as a father figure after all."

Makarov chuckled "His father would personally come back and beat the crap out of me if I let this continue, you have my word Cana, I will get through to him…Somehow."

Satisfied Cana nodded and left the office.

* * *

A helicopter was steadily approaching an aircraft carrier the was stationed just outside of dagger's tip Jordan, the chopper carried one passenger, a white haired woman with a large Katana strapped along her back, Lisanna Strauss, Was the operatives name. And she was currently being deployed with Unit Delta on a mission she herself did not know the specific of yet. She sighed as she looked out the small window and waited, she wondered what her new team would be like.

"You have not retained this much stress, since we were first paired, are the opinion's of your comrades that important to you?" A Very fatherly tone seemed to resound from inside her mind, Her A.I, Omega, spoke methodically and was sometimes annoyingly logical…Well for an A.I anyway.

"I just hope they like me enough to not use me as cannon fodder." Lisanna sighed in response.

"Under regulation 251," She cut him off.

"I wasn't serious." As was previously stated, over logical at times.

"You have nothing to worry about, the information I am allowed to access, has told me a great deal. This team has a hundred percent success rate. Your captain must be very impressive."

Lisanna smiled at the thought "Yeah, maybe it won't be too bad."

"Although the Captain's background is largely classified and his loss ratios are also classified…I think he may have a few drawbacks as a person." Omega announced.

"Well for an A.I you can't really talk about being human." Lisanna replied.

"I rescind my previous statement." Omega said.

The radio crackled to life "We will touchdown in four minutes."

Lisanna nodded and got to her feet slowly, retrieving her pack and her other equipment, she pulled the large brownie green bag over her shoulder and stood at the door's for a moment.

The radio crackled again "ETA to landing, 10, 9, 8,7, the countdown continued for a moment before the helicopter hit the carrier with a jolt, she watched a small red light on the roof for a few seconds until it turned green, she said the door open and jumped out of the chopper, her bag's rustled as she landed. A Man stood a little ahead of her, the brown skinned man was almost bald, he likely cut his hair in a traditional military of a buzz. He was slipping large rifle rounds into an empty magazine he held almost boredly, the black ink tribal tattoo the laced around the side of his head was interesting. He wore a back combat frame, like most operative about to go on mission, the full metal suit covered almost his entire body accept for his head, the small gaps in the armor had a synthetic near bulletproof material that allowed for near flawless movement. His suit was black with small segment's of orange on the shoulder's and two stripes on either side of the chest plate. He looked up and slip the magazine into a holster on his back. Before walking towards her.

"You must be the new member, I'm Dertega, but everyone around here call's me Sharps. I use air to create a frictionless environment for round to fly in as you can imagine I can hit target's from many more miles than anyone else hence the nickname." He smiled as he explained a little of his background, A small hologram winked to life in front of him, it was similar to the frame he wore, she knew it as his A.I.

The holo nodded to her "Hello, I am Dertega's A.I, Beta."

Lisanna nodded "Hi, I'm Lisanna, Lisanna Strauss."

Omega's hologram appeared in his all black combat suit, "You may all me Omega." Was all he said before winking out.

Dertega chuckled "Well, I am sure you want to see your bunk and get suited up, we roll out in four hours, you also gotta meet Fissures and the Boss, as well as get into your suit." Dertega rattled off the information luckily before gesturing for her to follow him, she complied she was a few steps behind him. The passed a cross in the halls and he pointed to the left "Mess halls down that way." She nodded, she didn't really make any mental notes, Omega had a map of the carrier anyway. If she ever got lost she can rely on him.

"Oi! Sharps!" The pair turned, a blonde haired man was striding towards them, he wore his dark green combat frame, His helmet was one but he glass was shut off, allowing them to make out his face, and hair color. He had dark brown eyes and he stared at them both, a large scar ram from the left corner of his mouth to just shy of his left eye.

"We Are moving out quicker than expected, looks like out boys are getting hit faster than originally anticipated, Deployment is in 40 minutes." The man explained quickly.

Dertega nodded "Oh, Lis, This is Conrad, everyone call's him Fissures though. As he just said you are going to want to suit up quickly."

"Oh, the replacement ay?" He gave her an obvious once over before shrugging "I hope you aren't as fragile as you look."

Lisanna wanted to punch him in the face and she probably would have if Dertega hadn't all but dragged her away, she managed to keep up with him before getting pulled over. They entered a locker room and Dertega pulled his locker open, pulling out his black and orange helmet, the striped were along the jaw line of the helmet as he slipped it on he pressed a button the left jaw line, and the visor seemed to dissipate around his face. He turned to Lisanna.

"I'll me you out on deck, get ready quick." He both ordered and suggested, she just nodded.

He smiled at her before running past her, taking a large rifle from the weapon rack by the door, he slung it over his shoulder, the thing almost reached from wall to wall.

"I was Unaware anyone was able to use a Barrat 100 cal effectively solo." Omega regarded, Lisanna pulled the pack off her shoulder, and unzipped it, the white and black armor stared back at her impassively, she pulled the chest piece over her head, she felt the armor tighten around her, she pulled the gloves on and slammed the greaves and boots on, picking up the helmet and waited a moment "Armor seal's are locked in, proceed." Omega announced.

She pulled the helmet on and regarded all the system in the visor, a small line indicated her current heart rate and her focus, her weaponry indicators read 0 as in she had no bullet's or a gun on her, she pulled the Katana up and the back of the suit opened perfectly to allow her to slide the blade into it, the weapon indicator changed to 'Sharp' indicating she had a knife.

"All system's at a hundred percent." Omega announced simply, Lisanna nodded and pressed a button on the side of her helmet, the indicator on the visor melted away and she was looking into the room not through a plane of glass.

The metal door groaned as someone pushed it open, Lisanna turned to look at the newcomer. The man wore a black T-shirt and pant's, he wore no shoes and looked as though he had just woken up with the way his hair was sitting, he looked at her with what seemed like lifeless eyes, it made her breath catch and a unmistakable feeling of dread set into her stomach. The man strode past her without so much as a second glance, he pulled open his locker and pulled his messy pale-pink hair over and made it sit properly, he pulled the chest piece of his dark red frame out of the locker, and slipped it on. She watched the gear's in the side turned as the thing tightened around his from he rolled his neck and raised his arms out straight to the sides, the black material that stopped the metal from brushing against skin seemed to snap around them, the metal folded out over his elbow and up to his hand's leaving his fingers free, the same process repeated with the greaves, she frowned usually it was all manual, she had never heard of an automated suit like that.

He pulled the red helmet out, it had a black dragon decal on the side of it made it look like he was snarling at everything in front of him. He pressed the button on the side of his helmet, the pure white glass that made up his visor melted away from his face.

"Lisanna Strauss?" He asked, his tone was like cold steel and it made her shiver slightly.

"Yes. Sir?" She stood in attention and she wasn't sure why, there was no guarantee that the man in front of her outranked her.

"Welcome to Delta, I will fill you in on the specifics of the mission on the way." He said methodically.

"Yes. Sir." She nodded and fell into step beside him.

"Oh, my name is Natsu Dragneel, I am the captain of Delta." The same dead tone. A small dark blue hologram appeared in front of them "And I am Theta."

Lisanna nodded at the A.I, it's voice reminded her of a little brother it was rather cute.

She noted the two black pistol looking weapon's, on Natsu's leg's. The design seemed off though they didn't seem like guns. she frowned through her visor at them.

"We are being deployed as the rearguard for the bulk of our forces in Afghanistan, we received intelligence that a few Al-Qaida zealot's plan on attacking our forces as they attempt to retreat, our mission is to terminate any and all attacker's while the main force pulls out. Any questions?"

Lisanna shook her head "Understood, Sir."

"Good." Natsu responded, the two walked in silence as they hit the deck of the boat, people bustled everywhere at the news of a more sudden deployment, Lisanna looked around her taking in everything. Natsu strode without looking around, A black Apache chopper sat in front of them, She saw Dertega and the other member, leaning against it almost casually.

'They don't even seemed worried!' She though in surprise.

"They do have a 100% success rating." Omega said.

Lisanna nodded.

Natsu kept his head facing straight at the chopper in front of them, through the visor he was peering down at his new member, she seemed in thought as she watched his two men in front of her.

"Boss, Lis. Glad you two made it," Dertega joked.

"Lis?" Natsu asked, his voice made more bone chilling when it was muffled by the mask.

"Well, we all have nicknames, and since the only thing we know about her is her name and that she uses a Katana as her main weapon, we went with Lis." Conrad explained.

The four soldier's stepped into the chopper, Natsu sat in the back left corner, Dertega too Lisanna's left and Conrad sat opposite her.

Dertega pulled a small photograph from a pocket in his chest piece, he smiled down at the picture.

"How far is she along?" Conrad asked curiously.

"36 week's tomorrow," Dertega responded, Lisanna peered curiously at the photograph, a black haired woman sat on a white picnic blanket in a field, Dertega sat with her both smiling at the camera, her stomach was a large bulge "With some luck I will get to be at my baby boy's birth."

Conrad nodded as he turned his visor back on, she regarded the large skull he had carved into it, the large knife clipped onto his shoulder was suddenly in his hand, she sharpened the blade on his arm and looked out the window, the lights in the cabin turned off abruptly leaving them in an almost eerie red glow.

Lisanna heard the clicking of a weapon being loaded, she looked at Dertega as he load his large rifle and faced the barrel up to the sky, Natsu slipped the two weapons from his legs and checked the round in them, confirming that they were in fact gun's, he pressed a button on the side and slide them together, her eyes widened as his weapon was suddenly a double bladed staff like weapon, he pressed a button and the shifted back into the original pistols.

"We all know the mission, Fissures, when we get there we will go with ambush Alpha, Dertega find a building set up, Lisanna. I read your file, these kind of mission's are not your strong suit we will be largely on offence, you will be circumventing the battle and taking out anyone who attempts to flank Dertega." Lisanna nodded.

Natsu stood and grabbed a loop on the roof so he didn't fall "we are going for aerial deployment, lock your weapon's and be ready. Dertega stretched out his shoulder and rolled his head from side to side as he stood up, he pressed his rifle on his back, the armor opened up slightly before clicking around the weapon, the barrel still nearly hit the roof but the thing was secured on his back.

Conrad had a standard rifle in his hands, he did the same process as Dertega, the weapon slotted into his back, the stock sticking up from his shoulder.

Lisanna tugged at her Katana slightly.

"Don't worry I have already locked it." Omega explained.

She nodded and took her spot beside Natsu, again her peered at her through his visor, for some reason he found her….interesting.

"Deployment in 2 minutes." Theta's voice chimed

Natsu almost glared at the small red light while he waited for it to change, the small indicator slowly ticked down in his visor, he pushed his interest in his new teammate out of his mind. The light blinked to green Natsu pulled the door open harshly.

"Go, go, go!" he shouted, the three of his team jumped quickly, he followed less than half a second after them, the kept there arms and legs straight as they rocketed towards the ground, a small indicator slowly ticked down on their visor's, the watched it for a moment, it started in green then went yellow then red, a small triangle slowly moved down the bar. As it hit yellow, Dertega flipped and opened his arm's angling his decent to place him atop a taller building, a small trajectory marker appeared and he made sure to follow it "Thanks Beta."

"You're welcome." His A.I responded.

He flipped just before he hit the ground slamming his fist into the ground as he landed kneeled, the was a small crack other than that the building was stable, he unclipped the rifle from his back and set up the stand of the alcove, he adjusted the sight and looked down it, taking a few deep breaths, he spotted the convey of enemy troop's driving towards them.

His radio turned on, "All right, looks like we have about twenty minutes till the enemy arrives."

Natsu's voice responded in his ear "Good, we will set up in 10, Sharps."

"Yes, Sir?" Dertega asked as he counted the soldier's advancing towards him.

"If any of them flank off, take them out." Natsu ordered.

"Yes, Sir." Dertega responded.

Lisanna watched the bar as she fell, as it reached halfway down the yellow, she turned and level out controlled her fall to land at the foot of the building a small blue triangle indicated that Dertega had landed.

She flipped and landed the same way as Dertega, kneeling down with her fist embedded in the ground, the dirt split and cracked around her as she stood and drew her Katana.

Natsu and Conrad, watched the bar, it hit the red and the merely flipped around and slamming into the ground the same way the other two had, both opened large craters in the ground before standing up, Natsu glued his back to a wall, and peered around the edge of it, he still couldn't see any of the enemy convoy. He looked over to Conrad, he nodded and the man placed his hand on the ground, the earth opened up under his palm, the crack was no wider than a pencil, it angled around the corner and down eh centre of the street the convoy was going to drive over, he kept his hand on the ground and waited.

Natsu raised his fingers a clicked them, a small flame appeared above his index finger, he let it wink out then clicked again, the process repeated for a small time, before the rumbling of thank tread reached the pair's ears, as well as the gurgle of engines and the sound of foot soldiers marching.

"They are in position." Dertega's voice announced through the radio.

Conrad smiled behind his visor as a small hissing sound rang out around the otherwise silent place, the air started to waver and distort and Natsu waited a moment.

"5,4,3,2,1. Now!" Theta announced.

Natsu clicked his finger's and his visor melted away as he blew the flame, it float off his finer towards the air that quivered, the convey halted, the commander opened the hatch the tank and blinked, a small red flame floated horizontally in front of them. he breathed in and caught something, gasoline? His eyes widened and he attempted to pull the hatch closed, the fire hit the quivering air and the area erupted, any of the men who weren't in an armored transport or one of the tanks' screamed in terror, before they were silence but the rush of flame, tank at the front blew out and the lid flew into the air before landing with a loud crash beside it. The two transport's opened up slowly and the rush of men running about to find cover as a few others opened fire. Dertega followed the movement's of a man as he stuck his head up to fire of a shot, a loud shot rang out and the bullet went clean through his forehead, Dertega pulled the bolt back as another round slid into the chamber with a click.

Natsu waited for Dertega's first shot, the second the deafening blast reached his ear's he jumped the small wall he was crouched behind, weapon in hand he rolled to his feet, th the surprise of the men around him, he spun quickly as and fired, with loud thud's the men around him hit the ground, blood pooling around them.

Conrad popped up from behind the wall, firing a steady stream into the men currently camped on the other side firing shots at Natsu. Another loud rifle shot rang out, and another body fell as Dertega pulled the bolt again. Lisanna crouched low behind a wall.

"12 signal's flanking right." Omega announced.

Lisanna dashed out from behind the wall, heading for the small squadron at full speed, one of them noticed and pointed, the rest pulled up their rifles, Lisanna slid to a stop and placed the back of her blade across her free hand, the men in front of her opened fire. She closed her eyes as each shot rang out clearly, her eyes snapped open when all that was heard was the clicking of empty weapons, she looked at her weapon, now covered in the small caliber round s of the weapons in front of her, she moved the weapon in a wide arc before releasing a large sweeping stroke in front of her, the bullet's splintered off and flew back at the men in front of her, their bodies hit the ground riddled with the bullets of their own guns.

Natsu ran through the building's, firing off a shot that never missed every now and then, a man stepped out in front of him and Natsu bent and slid under him, pressing a button on the side of his weapon, a blade slid out and he buried it into the man's head, he fell to the ground quickly. Natsu flipped around as the weapon's clicked together, he swung the bladed staff around himself a few times.

"Releasing lock's two, four and six." Theta spoke quickly, there was a reason these tow were paired after all.

Natsu disappeared in a blur, he charged a group of thirty who couldn't even register he moved, he flicked his weapon as he reached the end, and the bodies slid to pieces.

A small buzz caught his attention, he turned his head to see a tank bringing up the rear of the convoy tracking him, he ran forward, a loud explosion rocked the ground behind him as it blew apart where he was previously standing, he dived and rolled to his feet as the wall he sat behind blew apart.

"Fissures, they got another tank." He announced into the radio.

Conrad heard and placed his hands on the ground, the ground split and opened, the crack widened as it barreled towards the vehicles. Natsu slid to a stop at the rear of the tank, the buzz of its main turret turning towards him, it stopped as it trained on his chest. He heard the click of the firing mechanism, and then the ground cracked and split underneath it, the barrel pointed to the sky as the shot flew up. Conrad caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he dived forward, his weapon hadn't locked correctly and it clattered uselessly to ground right into the centre of the line of fire. He heard the sound of the men marching towards him, the sound of a rifle rang out and a single thud was heard, their pace slowed as the found a few spots to duck behind, Conrad gritted his teeth and pulled the knife from his shoulder.

"We find ourselves in a dire situation." Conrad's A.I, Zeta, announced.

"Yeah, look's that way buddy. I never thought this would be my last mission." Conrad looked up at the sky.

"Still we had a good run." He said enthusiastically

The shuffling of feet was close now, the barrel of a gun appeared above his head, he reached up and gripped the enemy by the collar, he yanked the man over the wall and embedded his knife in his head. He rolled to the left as a set of bullet's flew through the wall he was crouched behind.

He turned his radio on "Look's they are loading armor piercing round's guys. Hope you all get home."

"Conrad! Duck!" Natsu's voice ordered as he flew over the wall, Conrad did out of surprise, Natsu planted his feet in front of him and raised his hands, a hail of bullets flew at him and time seemed to slow down for the red-armored captain, he slammed his hands together the erupting of flame flew forwards, the bullet's froze in front of him and liquefied as the molten metal hit the ground. Natsu spun and slammed his palm forward in the air, the man in front of them melted to ash immediately. Natsu panted behind his mask. Dertega watched the events through the scope of his rifle, Conrad was one of his closest friends since the Academy days, they were excited when they were placed in the same squad and he had just accepted the fact that there was no way he could save his friend from his current position. Lisanna was too far out to help and the last person the pair ever expected to save anyone was Natsu, he was known to abandon entire squad's to complete mission's.

And yet the red-armored man stood panting in front of a crouching Conrad, both still very alive.

"Um, Boss?" Conrad started, Natsu turned around and frowned, it was like he didn't even know why he jumped in the way.

"Thanks." Conrad said, smiling up at his captain.

Natsu's visor melted away, something inside him clicked. And he smiled back, Natsu smiled for the first time in 17 years.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He pulled the man up by the shoulder's.

"All units, mission accomplished. Fall in people." Natsu ordered through the radio, the team slowly assembled after a few minutes, the helicopter landed a small distance from them, the sand dusted buildings stared back at them, as they boarded, Natsu heard something as he turned his head, the man must have hid till the very end, he pulled his gun and fired a single round, Natsu moved for a reason he himself didn't understand the bullet slammed into his shoulder, his mind went black as he fell into the helicopter, Conrad pulled a gun and fired three shots, hitting the man in the head. His head snapped back to their captain.

"Boss! Boss!" Dertega shouted.

The darkness of the chopper they couldn't make out if the shot was lethal or not, they knew he was still alive but that was all. Lisanna stared down at her captain and did her best to keep him awake. She shook his shoulder's and shouted his name, he would responded with a pained groan or a quiet word.

The helicopter sped towards the carrier, a medical crew awaited on deck. At this time an analytical officer received a report on her team's mission, she read the thing quickly and sped off in the direction her commander's office.

* * *

**A/N: So there it is, the first chapter of this tale. Now it starts out a little more action packed but it does mellow out eventually, as you can see Natsu's character changes quickly although to what extent? The frame's they wear are similar in look's to the Armor the Spartan's wear in Halo, I felt my description was a little lacking. I hope you all enjoyed.**


	2. Reliving The Past

Natsu's head swam, the black of the helicopter faded in and out of his vision, he was vaguely aware of someone calling his name at regular intervals and shaking him awake, he kept grasping the edges of his consciousness trying to respond to his name but his mouth would not obey his mind, blackness encroached on his vision again and he was too tired to fight it off, he remembered taking a bullet for his team, he didn't know why he did it, he was aware he was not like other people he didn't feel everything he did was logical and remorseless and he even he had saved his team today, he managed a chuckle at his own foolishness as everything went black.

* * *

"Natsu!" Lisanna shook his shoulders again, this time she was met with no response.

Natsu's A.I blinked to life above him "He is unconscious."

"Why don't you just Overclock his healing?" Conrad demanded harshly.

The A.I shook it's head "I can't, you know as well as I do that if I Overrode his body's healing functions it would kill him…He released all 12 locks to get to you before you died."

Conrad bit his tongue and stemmed his argument, the room grew silent before Lisanna finally spoke.

"What's Overclocking? and these locks?" Lisanna looked at her two team members and then to Theta.

"That's right, you're a newbie to this aren't you," Dertega spoke after a few moments "Well, it adheres to the theory that human beings have barriers within their own minds preventing us from using our full physical and mental ability, Our A.I's can tap into these barrier's and override them in essence allowing us to heal faster, jump higher, run faster and anything along those lines, we call it Overclocking and it can seriously injure the operative and so the A.I's regulate how much we use it to keep us safe."

"The Lock's refer to each barrier, Strength, speed, brain power, jump height, analytics, sight range, eyesight and hearing, in some cases people can overload one of these traits twice allowing twelve all up is the safest possible maximum." Conrad finished

"Natsu put all twelve into speed to get to Major Conrad before he was injured." Theta announced

The room grew silent again before the radio crackled to life "ETA to carrier Lincoln 3 minutes."

"The medical crew is onsite and prepped," Theta said simply "The mission report is filed…I hope he makes it."

"Wait a second," Conrad stepped forward firing a glare at Theta's hologram "You said he put twelve into speed? I thought safety protocol's prevented that as it could rip the muscle's of the user apart completely and yet we all saw him walking normally afterwards."

Theta hologram pulsated silently as it watched the man "I am an A.I of Natsu's own design, I do not have this safety protocol you refer to as for how Natsu does it…he has been trained and conditioned to push the limits of operative frame pairings since he could walk. That is the only unclassified information I can give you."

Conrad stepped back, they barely registered the pilot informing them of the imminent touchdown, the door slid open quickly and a group of six men dressed in white a large red cross sewn onto the chest of their clothing pulled Natsu off the helicopter and placed him on a stretched, placing an oxygen pump on his mouth as they carted him off.

* * *

Natsu was painfully aware of the light that suddenly hit his eyes, his eyes snapped closed after a moment and he wanted to yell at someone, why wouldn't they just let him die, it would be much easier, no explanation on why he injured himself for someone else and he would not have to have an endless recurring question roll around in his head, it didn't help that he seemed to be reliving the worse mission in his life every few minutes, the black resettled itself in his head and he drew a sharp inhale as he opened his eyes, he was on a rooftop he recognized the location immediately Tokyo Japan, the skyline was brilliant as always but that was not his focus, his focus was his target a ex-operative rumored to be selling his A.I as well as his old suit to the highest bidder, he crouched low along the edge of the massive skyscraper.

"It's odd," Theta announced in his head "Even though this operative is supposed to be selling his suit and A.I, there is no mention of him in any files…Like he never did a mission or something."

"It's not my job to gather intelligence," Natsu replied in his dead tone "Besides, maybe you just don't have access to it."

"Natsu, when you built me you gave me access to everything…And the strongest hacking software on top of that…If there was information on this guys missions I would have found it." Theta retorted.

"Our job is to follow order's Theta," Natsu responded flatly "and our order's are to eliminate this man."

He made it to the roof's emergency exit and pushed on it, as expected it didn't move, he growled in annoyance "A door should always go both ways." He complained as he retrieved a small rod of metal ending in a sharp point no bigger than a pen, he clicked a button on the side and the tip began to glow a molten orange color and spun around like a drill, he placed the glowing tip against the door and ran it horizontally in the centre, he pushed the button and the glow dissipated and he replaced the rod in his pack, pushing the door open he darted down the stairs, reaching the staff door on the 55th floor, he pushed in open and looked down the corridor.

Two men in black suits stood by the door at the end of the hall.

"It is only those two and our target inside." Theta said quickly.

Natsu nodded, removing his helmet and rolling his neck as his chest piece folded in on itself becoming similar to a bulletproof vest he could wear under his shirt in size. He pulled the thing above his head before removing his white button up shirt and placing it over his chest again, the shirt following over the top.

"Give me a moment," Theta announced "Syncing armor color in 3.2.1. Good to go."

The visible red under the shirt disappeared, he just looked slightly bulky under the shirt, he stood up and held the helmet behind his back as he entered the hallway, looking around the architecture like a tourist who got lost would, he pretended to be relieved as he approached the two men with a reassuring smile.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you but I seem to be on the wrong floor could you tell me where?" As he got close enough he stopped talking, tossing his helmet at the closest man and dashing into the second, the fist pulled his gun quickly before the helmet slammed into his wrist he winced as the bones broke, Natsu turned as the second fired a shot as he drew, the bullet flew by his head embedding into the floor boards behind him as he slammed his fist into the underside of the man's elbow the bone snapped and Natsu closed his hand over the man's mouth cutting of the scream as he twisted his neck in a fluid motion it snapped with a click, the other man managed to swap the gun from his broken wrist to his working hand, But Natsu led with a powerful roundhouse slamming him into the wall, he slid down the wall unconscious, Natsu placed his helmet on his head as the armor snapped through his shirt, he didn't care for the material anyway. He picked up the first guards gun and looked at the door.

"You wanna knock? Or shall I?" Natsu asked

The door opened with a click and Natsu pushed it the rest of the way aiming down the hallway that led into the room "Hotel lock's are so east." Theta boasted.

"Quiet." Natsu ordered in a whisper as he entered the apartment slowly. The white and black tiles ran through the whole place, the wall's were a deep red color and the ceiling remained white, intricate sculptures and painted lined the walls of the hallway, Natsu moved quickly and quietly down the hall, he rounded the corner and looked at the paper white sliding doors that lined either side. As he moved towards the room currently casting a shadow on the door he felt something press against his neck and he froze, No one could sneak up on him, he gritted his teeth behind the mask as he raised his hands into the air.

"I was wondering when they would figure out I was alive," The unknown spoke flatly "Seems they sent a rookie to take me out…It hurts to be underestimated like this."

Natsu kept his hands up, the voice sounded so familiar it was aggravating but in this situation he saw a small hope.

"If you are going to kill me," Natsu said flatly "Just do it, I don't have anything worth staying alive for anyway."

"I know that voice," The man suddenly said before a hand dragged Natsu into a room "Remove your helmet."

Natsu watched the man through his visor, he had black and hair and dark onyx eyes not at all unlike his own, they seemed to glow slightly in the soft orange light of the room, his aged features shone through, he was at least fifty maybe approaching his sixties a small amount of gray had come into his beard.

Natsu raised his hands slowly and deliberately outward before bringing them close to his head and pulled the helmet free.

The man smiled as Natsu's face was revealed "It has been a long time Natsu."

Natsu frowned and gritted his teeth "Do I know you?"

"You do," The man said simply "But I never called you by your name…I called you little dragon."

Natsu staggered as the memories hit him like a train, his mouth dropped open and he stared at the man unable to make word "D-dad? Is that really you? You are selling your old gear?"

Natsu's father frowned "No, my old gear was destroyed when I 'died'."

Natsu shot him a dangerous glare "Thirteen years, you have been alive all this time…You never came back."

"Of course I didn't, I 'died' there is no coming back from that." His father sat down at the small table in the centre of the room, the matted floor offered little comfort as Natsu sat opposite him.

"You didn't die though, clearly you are still here." Natsu kept his glare trained on his father the whole time.

"Well, the man you knew died…Well more to the point…I woke up." His father stared at the table solemnly as he spoke, like he was reliving painful memories.

"Remember that mission?" His father suddenly asked looking up.

Natsu nodded "You had to rescue a civilian hostage, they said it went bad and you were forced to detonate the floor as the hostage had already been killed, they said you were caught in the blast and died shortly after because they couldn't get to you in time."

"Well it's partly true at least," His father grimaced "It wasn't a 'civilian hostage' it was your mother…I was ordered not to go and I forced my intelligence officer to help me sneak out on the mission."

"Makarov, I remember him…He is a colonel now I haven't spoken to him a awhile." Natsu responded

"It was supposed to be so simple," His father responded sadly "Get in, free your mother and get out, nothing ever goes as easily as planned though…As we were about to get out an allied group attacked me…On orders from the higher up's…I never found out why…I got away barely, but your mother wasn't as lucky."

Natsu stared at him for a few minutes in silence "You were attacked by our forces?"

His father nodded "They wanted us both…out of the picture."

"Why?" Natsu demanded.

"Because of you," Natsu didn't respond so his father continued "You had already started training to become an operative you excelled at everything…Even started building your own A.I. But you made decisions emotionally back then whenever it came to your team…Or your family you were like me. Protect them at all cost's even the failure of a mission or your own death wouldn't stop it."

Natsu's hands latched onto the side of his head "No! No! No! No! Your wrong! I have never been like that," His eyes squeezed shut "They told me, emotion is weakness, emotion clouds a persons judgment and makes them act illogically and failing missions is not an option…The mission comes first." Natsu repeated the last bit like mantra, it had been drilled into him for fifteen years and now his father not only comes back from the dead he tells him everything he has ever fought for was a lie?!

"If that's true," His father said simply, he slid the gun across the table "Shoot me, it's your mission right."

Natsu stared at the gun in front of him, his eyes narrowed and he practically blurred forward picking the gun up. A single shot echoed around the room, Natsu didn't open his eyes for a few minutes.

"See?" His father said flatly, looking at the small hole in the wall.

"No amount of drilling can take the person you are away from you."

"But, I have killed team's sacrificed them easily…Without a second thought to complete missions…T-" His voice cracked "I-I don't know what to do."

His father leaned forward placing his elbow's on the table and lacing his fingers together his mouth turned upwards in a very small smile "Nobody knows what to do…Do what you believe is right," He moved his hand forward poking him in the right side of the chest lightly "What you believe to be right in here."

"But, if I don't kill you…Mission failure and then they might find out your alive and come after you…I can't go back." Natsu stared at the table in front of him.

"They knew it was me," His father smiled, a smile someone uses when a plan they had worked on for years falls through perfectly "That rumor you were chasing, I sent out…Everything in your mission has been because of the way I went about things…Remember what I always used to tell you?"

Natsu shook his head.

"The more outrageous the lie, the easier it is to manipulate those who believe it." His father's smile changed.

Natsu gained the meaning, he would not change…Not on the outside at least he would remain as he is now the perfect soldier.

"Now off you go," His father made a shooing movement "Don't worry about your mission…I only have a few more hours anyway."

Natsu stopped "What do you mean?"

"Remember the old suits?" Natsu nodded "Apparently the ray shielding in them wasn't thought about." Natsu's eyes widened as he gained the meaning.

His father nodded with a smirk "Yeah, poisoned me, too many missions in the suit…My organ's have been gradually shutting down I had a few meds to slow it down but…I ran out earlier today…You know how people say if you only had one more day to live what would you do?"

Natsu nodded again "I'd say making sure you grew into a fine man beat's anything anyone else has ever come up with."

His father laughed "Now, off you go…If you can quit…Quit before you meet a girl and have kids."

Natsu nodded and slid the door closed, he placed his helmet back on his head and bolted out of the apartment, as he rounded the corner of the door back into he hallway leading to the roof, he heard a shuffle and he barely registered movement before a sharp pain ripped through his leg he rolled to the floor and spun around drawing his gun and firing at the source of the last shot, the bullet hit the guard in the forehead and he fell to the ground quickly. Natsu dragged himself to his feet as he reached the rooftop a helicopter touched down a small distance ahead of him he limped toward it and a small squad jumped out and scanned the roof before helping him into the craft.

"Good work, Sir," The captain saluted "We will take it form here."

Natsu nodded with a cold glare.

* * *

Natsu's eyes snapped open and he looked around himself, he was in a white room he wore a loosely fitting hospital gown and his left shoulder was bandaged tightly, he stared at the ceiling for a long time. That had been his worst mission, not because they found out anything that happened inside, it was the worst because he found out he had been lied to and manipulated by people who called themselves his allies, he had transferred to Makarov's unit the moment he was cleared for combat, When he was made the captain he made sure all of his plan's gave him the most risk, always keeping his men safe while making it appear that it was logical and his emotions were not regulating his decisions…All his work had just evaporated years of work under Makarov all gone because of an oversight…He wanted out…He was done with fighting war's…It was not normal for a seventeen year old, he was finished, either they would let him quit or he would arrange his own 'death.'

* * *

**A/N: So that's explains the super soldier aspect's (I hope) And a bit of Natsu's back story…The Ultimate deception…Like it? Hate it? Tell me your thoughts and I will see you guy's next week. Hope you all enjoyed, Peace!**


	3. One Last Mission

"Theta," The blue hologram blinked to life "I think it's time to go dark for a little while buddy."

"I don't know Natsu," Theta responded skeptically "What if they make you do another mission?"

"Wait in the personal server in my room, if I don't pick you up in 4 hour's transfer to the sector 375." Natsu said simply.

"All right I will begin now, the timer is set…If you get a mission come and get me before the briefing." Theta warned.

"Yeah all right." Natsu replied.

Theta blinked away and Natsu fell into his hospital bed with a sigh, he stared at the white ceiling of the medical wing, the lights blinked before beginning to flash red and he heard an alarm sounding in the ship, he got to his feet and pulled his chest piece out of a locker in the corner, he placed it over his chest and waited for the metal to snap over his arms and legs with a metallic click.

"Delta frame team report to briefing room C immediately, I repeat Delta to briefing room C immediately." The PA announced over the ship, Natsu bounded down the corridors, he bumped into a fully suited Dertega on the way.

"The Colonel told us about the mission before you joined his team," Dertega said flatly "Do you have any idea what's going on, sir?"

Natsu watched the man impassively before shaking his head "I don't but whatever this is it will be my last mission."

"I heard that." Dertega replied with a wide smile "I am going to request a transfer to the mainland…I don't want to be a field agent with a kid at home worrying about me."

Natsu nodded as the pair entered the briefing room, Makarov stood behind the podium at the front of the room, it was mostly dark, Lisanna sat in the middle row and Conrad leaned on the wall to the right side of the room, all combat ready.

"Have a seat you two," Makarov said flatly "Here's the situation, a Titanite refinery has been hijacked off the coast of Japan, looks like the black hand radical groups M.O, we have received no demands as per the usual with these people."

"Black Hand, Sir?" Lisanna asked

"A group of religious pyromaniacs that believe the world is evil and should purged with fire," Conrad spat "The chosen few are the ones that carry out this 'purification' they target refineries and other 'evil' installations."

Makarov nodded at the explanation "We had a feed from one of the camera's on the refinery for a few minutes before they took control of the structure." Makarov pressed a small black remote and a projected image played on the wall to his right.

There were around 12 men in long black capes with the hoods drawn up, moving in a horizontal line, large tanks strapped on their backs and long cattle prod like weapons in their hands, the man in the centre waved the stick about in front of him before a small arcing spark flew in between the two prongs and ignited the air in front of him. The video was interrupted by one of the men walking up to the camera, he wore a silver mask like that of a skull with two rotating bolts in either side of the jaw, the eyes glowed orange like fire and a small amount of gas sprayed from the mouth before his voice crackled through like on a radio (A/N: Essentially the mask Death Gun wears in GGO with orange eyes.) "To those of evil that are watching this, You cannot stop the Purification." Was all he said before he broke the Camera.

"And that was all we got, we know via PDT'S that 45 of the original 60 crew are still alive, we do not know how much longer they will be though, so we go and we go now, rescue the hostages and eliminate the radicals. Dismissed." Makarov finished with a curt nod.

"Sir!" The four stood quickly and saluted before they ran towards the deck, Natsu looked down the corridor to his room before shaking his head 'There isn't enough time.' He thought flatly as he followed his team.

The boarded the jet black Apache quickly and readied their various weapons. Natsu pressed the radio on the side of his helmet "Keep us high, we want to make sure they don't know we are there for as long as possible."

"Yes, Sir!" Was the pilots response.

"What's the plan boss?" Conrad asked as he loaded a magazine into his assault rifle.

"The more we can get without them realizing we are there the better so we are going silent, Dertega stay in the chopper with a rifle and provide over watch, Lisanna you and I will be the main unit in this mission as we are the ones trained in hand-to-hand and melee weaponry, Conrad you will keep the evac point to the south side of the refinery clear." The three nodded.

Dertega pulled his large rifle from the wall of the Helicopter and opened the side door, Natsu harnessed him to the side of the chopper and his placed his feet on the bar's on either side of the plan before aiming down his scope going over the Refinery "It's not looking too great, boss." He announced over the sound of the roaring wind, his A.I flickered to life.

"That is correct, The Black Hand have shutdown the anti-inferno systems from the control room and have ignited most of the east side of the refinery where Titanite in its most raw form is stored it is only a matter of time before it is detonated taking back the control room should be first priority."

Natsu nodded, blue prints of the refinery glowed to life on the floor and he crouched beside it, "the control room is here," He pointed to a small square on the second floor of the north tower "The PDT'S Show the hostages here," He pointed to a the mess hall closer to the south side "And the detonation will come from here." He pointed to the large storehouse on the eastern side of the complex.

"Our point of entry will be here." He pointed to the western towers Helipad "Conrad and Lisanna will go and retrieve the hostages, I will go to the control with support from Dertega from the chopper and activate the fire suppression systems, when I give the word the chopper will pull to the southern pad and then I will make my way over and we will all get out of here."

Dertega nodded "Put us down on the western pad, as silently as possible!" He yelled into his radio, the pilot answered "Yes, sir!" Quickly.

Natsu pulled the pair of pistols from his legs and pressed the button on the side, the shifted and clicked into his knives, The helicopter hovered slightly above the pad and Natsu pushed himself off, landing with a soft thud and looking around before gesturing for Conrad and Lisanna to follow, Conrad landed first rolling to a crouch and scanning around with his rifle, Lisanna landed deftly and looked around, the Helicopter flew back into the air and began a slow arc around the refinery.

"Remember try to avoid hitting the tanks…I would rather not blow up the refinery today." Natsu reminded as he jumped from the top floor, a black hooded man underneath him, the man heard something like the sound of wind ripping at clothes and managed to gasp as he looked up before Natsu embedded his knives into the eye sockets of the mask. The man crumpled to the ground and Natsu rolled to his feet, he stayed low as he moved along a waist his set of piped, peering over the top off them, Two men stood guard at the door leading into the Western tower, Natsu pressed his Radio.

"Lis, Fissures, you got two at the door leading out of your tower." Natsu relayed flatly.

"Roger that." Conrad responded, Natsu stayed crouched and waited, if he moved they'd spot him so he had to wait for his team to take them out. The door opened and the pair whipped around, it was more of a flash of sliver light than anything else before to headless bodies crumpled to the ground and Lisanna stood crouched in the doorway she flicked the blood from her blade and nodded at Natsu, who nodded back and started making his way towards the northern tower.

Natsu stayed low as two cloaked men walked side by side in front of him, he moved quickly raising his set of knives above them and slicing through their necks, the brought their hands up in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding and gurgled and choked as the fell back, Natsu finished them off quickly and continued in a quick crouch. Another man stepped out in front of him, Natsu gritted his teeth and remembered he couldn't Overclock to get to him before he turned around, flipping the knife in his right hand and catching it by the blade he sent it rifling towards the man in front of him as he turned around, the knife embedded deep into his high and he fell back with a heavy clank.

"Sirus?!" A voice demanded in panic, Natsu mentally groaned and forced his legs to move as fast as they could, as the man rounded the corner and looked down at his friend his eyes followed the path to Natsu, he raised the cattle prod like flamethrower and growled, Natsu raised his knife and battered the thing away, losing his knife in the process, Natsu followed with a quick kick to the inside of the knee, the man in front of him buckled, and Natsu slammed an armored fist into his stomach as the cloaked man lurched forward, Natsu stepped behind him and with a harsh twist snapped the man's neck, he crumpled to the floor and Natsu retrieved his knives before Stepping into the north tower.

* * *

Lisanna peered around the corner of the corridor leading to the door of the mess hall, Two cloaked guards stood at the door and another pair walked towards the corner they currently stood behind it was going to prove incredibly difficult to eliminate all of them without any alarms being raised. She turned to Conrad, he leaned forward and nodded cocking the firing mechanism on his rifle before making a silent count with his head nodding three times, on the third the pair moved around the corner, the two walking towards them were taken by surprise as they moved around, Conrad fired 6 shots, three landing in the chest of the one of the right and the other three hitting the man's shoulders before the last hit him square between the eyes, Lisanna's hand tightened on her blade and she took a deep breath as the two at the door suddenly seemed to be moving much slower as they brought their flamethrowers around, she went clean through the weapons the pronged piece at the end fell to the ground and shot flew over her head and hit the man in front of her, she flicked the sword back and relived the other mans shoulders of the weight of his head.

The door to the mess hall opened suddenly and another cloaked man who hand his mask removed walked out smiling before he realized who was standing in front of him, he stopped mid sentence as Lisanna brought her blade through the centre of him from groin through the top of the head, the Woman he was dragging ripped away and dived behind a table.

"It's a frame team! Roast the Hostages!" A man shouted from the other end of the hall, Lisanna pulled the blade up and threw it, it embedded into his chest and pinning his against the wall, she pulled her sidearm as Conrad rounded the corner, Conrad overclocked his hand eye coordination and his arms moved in a blur as he released quick burst after burst, Lisanna fired a few shots before the sound of gunfire stopped and the pair panted.

"Lucky they were still a little surprised to see us." Conrad got out through pants. Lisanna ran over to her sword and pulled it free of the wall, she darted around the room cutting the bindings confining the sets of hostages.

Conrad heard the sound like hissing gas and his eyes widened as he spotted the man at the end of the hall, the one Lisanna had impaled his mask was off and he was smiling manically "Everyone out!"

"Purification by Fire!" The man shouted as his sparked the weapon in his hand, the gas from his pack already spread over the place, Conrad spun around grabbed the closest pair of slower moving people and Overclocked his speed, he slammed back first into the corridor outside the mess as Lisanna closed the door, a small amount of smoke trickled out from under the door. Conrad panted even more heavily and got to his feet slowly, as he placed weight on his left foot his winced his A.I flickered to life "Your Ankle was dislocated in the impact, please refrain from using it till you have reset it, then I can heal it."

"All right everyone get to the southern tower's helipad, that where the helicopter is waiting," Lisanna ordered as she moved to support Conrad with her arm "We are getting you all out of here."

* * *

Natsu stood by the door of the control room, his pressed a button on the bottom of his knives and they shifted with a metallic clank and he held his two pistols, he placed the left one into the holster on his leg and pulled a charge from his belt, placing the plastic explosive on the door he took a few steps back before pressing the detonator, the door blew open and he drew his second gun as he bolted inside, the two by the door were already dead, 4 more whipped around to the explosion, Natsu fired at the two by the centre console hitting on in the neck and the other in the chest, he slid along the ground as wave of fire flew over his head he jumped to his feet and fired hitting the third man in the shoulder, he groaned in pain and dropped his weapon Natsu followed it with another shot to the chest and another to blow him into the ground, the fourth mans weapon seemed to be not working so he drew a knife and charged Natsu, The man kicked Natsu's wrist and he dropped one of his guns, he brought the other up to block the incoming knife and punched the man in the stomach, he reared his hand back and moved the gun as if to punch with it before firing, the man moved his head to the side and the bullet hit the wall behind him, The man grabbed Natsu's arm and flipped it around, Natsu let out a growl as a shock of pain went up his arm, Natsu kicked the man's knee and he buckled releasing his arm but pressing the attack again before Natsu could do anything else, Natsu jumped back and slammed his foot into the man's stomach as the man lurched forward, Natsu caught his wrist and pulled him around in a circle before slipping his arm rolling over his back and delivering a powerful roundhouse kick sending the man slamming backwards into the wall, Natsu stomped over to him and put a bullet between his eyes. Natsu rubbed at his shoulder as he moved over to the computer systems, he pulled the bodies out of the way and as he had many times this mission wished Theta was here.

He stared at the screens under him and attempted to fix the systems, the sharp ring of the alarm systems snapped his head up as the east side of the refinery went up in flames the room shook, Natsu gritted his teeth.

"Warning, Titanite storage house compromised…All personal please evacuate immediately." The computerized voice repeated the same thing over and over again.

Natsu beat his hand against the console in front of him, the room shook as another explosion rocked the refinery and the door shook, Natsu got to his feet shakily and made a move towards the door, the roof buckled and the metal fell with ear grating drag as steel dragged across steel. He grabbed the large metal bar and attempted to lift it, to no success.

Natsu stared at the now blocked door and sighed, moving back to the chair in the room he fell against his heavily, pressing the side of his helmet he heard his radio crackle to life "Viper 2-3."

"Sir?" The pilot of their chopper asked.

"Take off, I will not be able to make the extraction point in time." Natsu ordered.

"But, sir."

"That is an order Sergeant."

"Yes, Sir!" The man shouted in the radio.

Natsu left his radio on, he could hear Lis, Conrad and Dertega shouts of protest, the pilot responded with "I can't disobey a direct order."

Natsu looked at the gun in his left hand and out the thick glass window towards the steadily encroaching flames, before chuckling at the Irony of his situation 'One Last Mission huh?'

* * *

**A/N: What's going to happen next? Who knows you will have to wait and see, I hope you all enjoyed this action packed chapter and I will see you all next week!**


	4. Normal?

Natsu stared at the pistol in his hand and then back out the window, the fire was closer now, he sighed, he could try to melt the glass but it will leave him so weak he doubted he would make off the installation before it blew up, he sighed and pulled his helmet off his head setting it down on the console in front of him, he stared at the orange visor and his reflection stared back at him, he looked tired and he chuckled he_ felt_ tired. He lifted his hand and placed the barrel of his gun against his temple, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes before a sharp beep, made him open them and pause.

The console in front of him beeped again, a small led light blinked he stared at the thing that had interrupted him, he placed the gun down and hit the button, a small hologram blinked to life in front of him.

"What am I going to do with you?" Theta crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.

Natsu chuckled "Shouldn't have bothered not like you being here will save me anyway."

Theta's shoulders went limp "Just hurry up and put your hand on the console."

Natsu did as he was told. Theta moved into the chip in his wrist and was silent for a minute before blinking to life in front of him "Okay, I have plan."

Natsu stared at the small blue hologram for a minute "Well, let's hear it."

"I want you to melt the glass," Theta said simply "Then I will Overclock your speed, you should have enough energy to get off the north side of the refinery and into the ocean."

"And then drown, your plan is flawed." Natsu replied flatly.

"Your helmet's filter will keep you alive long enough for the current to wash you up on shore." Theta responded.

Natsu stared at the hologram for a few seconds "I would prefer to shoot myself than drown or burn to death, so I better not drown."

"You won't…well shouldn't." Theta replied.

"That's reassuring." Natsu smirked as he pulled the helmet over his head, he left his weapon on the bench, he wasn't going to need it anymore anyway.

He walked over to the window and stopped "This will burn me out won't it."

Theta was silent for a few minutes "Yes, so even if the military finds out you survived they won't take someone who can no longer use magic."

Natsu nodded, he raised his fist in front of him and it ignited, the orange red and yellow of his fire flickered around his hand violently as he focused on it, it flickered and turned blue as he poured everything he could into it, he reared his fist back and slammed it against the glass, the fire hit the surface and exploded outwards from his palm, the glass buckled before it turned to liquid and melted down itself before running over the side of the sill and down the side of the building.

"Alright go!" Theta shouted and Natsu dropped his weight back before throwing himself forward out of the newly melted glass, he hit the ground heavily and rolled forward as he got to his feet he forced his legs to move as his muscles felt like they were turning into liquid, he gritted his teeth and growled against the urge to stop moving, an explosion shook the platform he was on and he stumbled, placing a palm against the ground he pushed back to his feet, he dived off the north side of the refinery as the machine exploded force from the blast flipped him over and he slammed against the cold water hard, he winced as he floated on the surface of the water, metal crashed into the ocean around him, showered his visor with droplets as his head remained on the surface, he didn't have the energy to turn his head much less attempt to swim, he could feel the water pulling him along with it and he struggled to keep his eyes open for as long as possible, they got too heavy and he lost consciousness.

* * *

Natsu wasn't sure how long he saw black for, but when light finally broke into his vision it was obscured by something, he blinked against the sunlight, a sharp caw made him sit up, he groaned and laid back down "I'm not dead you damned buzzard." He growled swatting the bird off his helmet as he pulled it off, a small amount of water leaked out of it and he rubbed his face, he was on a beach, waves crashed against the sand and the sun was rising slowly on the horizon.

"Theta, you alive?" Natsu rubbed his forehead as he got to his feet, his head felt like he had been hit by a train, 'A forty foot drop into ice cold water is probably close.' his head admitted.

"Technically I was never alive to be-"

"Not a time for jokes." Natsu interjected.

"Fine, yes I am," Theta replied a little annoyed, Natsu armor retracted and changed slightly, it seemed like he was wearing a red singlet and black pants "At least now you are less conspicuous."

Natsu pinched the bridge of his nose "I hope this isn't what normal people feel like all the time."

"You burnt yourself out, did you expect no physical repercussions?" Theta asked rhetorically.

Natsu rolled his eyes "Fine, so where am I going?"

"Three kilometers down the beach is a bus stop and an ATM," Theta blinked and pointed down the beach in the direction meant for Natsu "We will take the bus into Tokyo city, the base in sector 375 is operational and your new life is in place."

Natsu sighed again and began his trek down the beach, his helmet got picked up by a wave and dragged back out to sea abandoned where he had tossed it.

* * *

He approached the ATM "What am I doing Theta? We aren't stealing money."

"Where do you think I put all your pay?" Theta responded in annoyance.

"I got paid?" Natsu asked

"Yeah and I knew you would end up wanting out so I put it here." Theta said simply.

"Won't they just track the account?" Natsu asked

"Most of your personal details were classified to anyone accept Makarov," Theta replied flatly "He likely knows your alive anyway, remember what he used to say?"

"If I get killed on a mission his moustache would fall off and he'd wear a dress, yeah, yeah." Natsu chuckled at the old man, before placing his thumb against the screen as indicated, a red line brushed over his finger and after blinking for a few seconds, his balance appeared as well as a withdraw button, he was still staring at the number.

"T-T-Ten billion? What? How much did they pay me?" Natsu stammered out.

"As their best operative, a lot but that doesn't matter and don't even think about going crazy with it." Theta almost scolded.

"Crazy on what?" Natsu responded as he withdraw 300 dollars and placed it into a holster on his waist.

"Whatever, just get on the bud by some food and get to the base."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Natsu responded.

* * *

It was hours until Natsu actually arrived, he held a small white bag of food for the night and next morning as he opened the gate of his new 'base' The house was a simple two bedroom apartment on the second floor of a larger apartment complex, it had relatively good security he walked up to the door and placed his thumb on the handle with a click he pushed the door open, the lights blinked on and he removed his chest piece and allowed a long sigh of relief, he dropped the bag on the table as he examine the place, white carpet lined the halls and rooms, the walls and ceiling were also white, the kitchen was relatively small with black and white tiles, the bench top was black, a black leather couch sat in front of a large wall mounted T.V, a hallway led to the bathroom and laundry and another one led to the two bedrooms he walked to the bathroom after retrieving a change of clothes and a towel "How'd you manage to get all this stuff in here?"

"A very small amount of hacking and a few money transfers." Theta responded boredly "A report of your new life is on the bed."

"Good." Natsu said as he turned on the water and held out his hand, he was eager to sleep if anything else, but there was a few things he had to do.

The towel was draped over his head, he wore a pair of grey track pants and no shirt, he pulled a chair over to his computer turning it on and activating the camera in the top of the screen "Just a few more things to do." He said to himself as he hit the record button.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed, Natsu's new life will be explained more in the next chapter, till then Peace!**


	5. The Hard Way

**A/N: So, first off, I didn't die or anything, I sent in my PC to get updated and my I left my laptop in Japan so it's getting mailed back to me. I apologize for dropping off the planet for 5 days but life happened and I haven't had an abundance of time to dedicate to writing fan fictions, so instead of releasing half-assed or rushed chapters I chose to forgo the schedule and finish off the last of my Uni work and other various things, like the o so glorious spring cleaning *Ugh*, anyway on with the sho-Literature!**

* * *

Lisanna, Conrad and Dertega stood in the briefing room where they had received their last mission, Makarov looked them over before sighing and clicking the small button atop on the remote in his hand, the screen behind him flickered to life and Natsu stared at them, a towel wrapped around his shoulders and his hair matted against his head.

"Well as you can see, I'm not dead," The recording began simply, before he ran a hand through his hair "I probably should be, but I got a little help and made it out of that room.

The three stared at Makarov in question and he smirked "I received this minutes before you three made it back here, just listen."

Natsu paused for a moment as if in thought "Well, I didn't disappear without a few parting gifts," He smirked "Dertega, a few months ago you asked for a transfer to a non-combat unit I assume so that you could help raise your child, it took a lot of favors, but you have an analytical position for Charlie's operating team, should you choose to accept it."

Dertega practically jumped for joy, before calming himself down.

"Conrad, I read about your fathers last mission, h was reported MIA (Missing in Action) And you were denied permission to look into it, I managed to get you permission to do so, on your own time that is, it's not much but it as the best I could do."

Conrad just nodded.

"Lisanna, although you are a newbie I believe you are most suited to leading Delta, so congratulations on your promotion, kill my men and I will be sure to come back though," Natsu flashed a wide grin "I know I only have about twenty more seconds before Makarov traces this line back to me, so it was a pleasure working with all of you." He stood from his chair and saluted before the video winked out.

Lisanna stared at the screen and back to Makarov "Can he do that?"

"Technically no," Makarov admitted "But I don't see a reason to deny the Captains last wishes."

Conrad turned to Lisanna "Captain, I request a leave of absence to…Grieve." He smirked and she chuckled

"I think we could all use some RNR." Lisanna nodded.

Makarov chuckled 'Best of luck to you, Natsu."

* * *

Natsu walked down the street, he rubbed his hands together and sighed nervously, yes the Captain of Delta, the man who completed hundreds of missions, been shot, blown out windows and fought armies was nervous, why? Well he was seventeen, so legally he had to be admitted to high school, to which he was currently on his way too. He tugged at the tie around his neck and adjusted the white shirt slightly.

"Would you calm down," Theta practically scolded through an earpiece he had provided, carrying an A.I around was a surefire way to get him found out "It's school not a firing squad."

Natsu sighed "I know, I am more worried about the guys at base than this place, I mean not like I am afraid of a bunch of high schooler's."

"Well they have taken few weeks off to 'grieve' your loss they even held a fake funeral for you," Theta responded "So they seem fine."

Despite himself Natsu walked a little faster, a normal life would be nice, well he hoped it would be, hell anything will be better than getting shot at on a weekly basis.

The sound of a bottle being knocked over brought his attention to the alleyway beside him, he craned his neck around the corner and frowned before making his way down the gap, voices slowly came into his range of hearing as he neared the corner and he pressed his back against the wall and peered around the corner.

"Why don't you take responsibility?" A tall blonde man sneered at someone Natsu could not make out.

"For what?" The obvious feminine voice snapped in question.

"You're a little feisty for a terrorist!" The blonde snapped back "I heard the refinery explosion was the work of your kind."

Natsu growled as he rounded the corner "Hey, asshole!" He shouted.

The blonde stopped and turned around, he had a tattoo of a lightning bolt running over his left eye, three people stood around him, a green haired boy, another boy who wore a bandana over his hair and a brunette woman, who seemed oddly out of place and Natsu sighed.

"Why don't you just turn around and keep walking if you know what's good for your health that is." The guy in the bandana sneered.

"That attack was the work of the Black Hand," Natsu looked slightly bored as he stared at his hand "Fiery explosions are kind of their thing, how about you children get too class, wouldn't want to be late would we?" Natsu smiled at them, coupled with a glare.

"My information is never wrong." The blonde retorted in defense.

"Leave or I will break your teeth." Natsu growled flatly.

The blonde growled and charged him, Natsu turned and brought his palm down on the boys neck, forward momentum and the added force sent the boy head over heels and he slammed into the concrete with a loud slap before groaning.

Natsu rolled his eyes and leaned down close to the boys head "You know, an act of terrorism can be seen in many ways, tormenting a girl in high school could easily be considered one and I would have thought by now we would be past the one of them did it so all of them are guilty mindset, its retards like you that keep these stupid wars going, now leave before I actually hurt you." Natsu's kept his voice level and impassive, the boy groaned and got to his feet before his group ran over to him and he just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

Natsu pinched the bridge of his nose before walking over to the girl, he offered her his hand and pulled her back to her feet, the girl had blonde hair and brown eyes, quite a large bust size for someone in high school.

"Sorry about them." Natsu said simply.

She shook her head "It's not your fault they are retarded."

Natsu looked her over quickly, he noticed the glint of metal on her left arm and realized what they meant by her 'kind', the metal arm replaced her hand and forearm cutting off at her elbow, he could see from the outside that the mechanism in the fingers were broken, likely from one of the others stomping on it, she pulled her bag around her back and pulled a small set of screwdrivers out from her schoolbag, although one handed she couldn't do much to fix the damage.

"Here," Natsu took the small set form her and pulled the metal appendage into the light, he unscrewed the guard over the back of the hand and looked at the stringy bits of metal that made the fingers bend, one was bent out of place and was causing the others to jam, he brought the screw driver to the bent piece of metal and placing it down as a lock, he used a second driver to bend the metal back into a straight line, well at least straight enough that the hand moved as it was supposed to. "Where'd you get this, it looks almost military quality."

"When I was younger, that group of cybernetic evolutionists attacked the place where my family and I were living," The girl started to explain, as she flexed her hand by closing it into a fist "They blew up a large amount of the town and then offered the wounded, like me, pieces to put us back together or as they put it 'To join their Glorious Evolution.'" She placed the set of tools in her bag and motioned for him to follow her, he noticed her uniform was the same as his for the first time and obliged.

"A group of the new special forces showed up and captured most of that group," The girl finished "But people still treat me like the terrorist that blew up the town and not the victim of an attack."

Natsu sighed "People tend to condemn what they don't understand, don't hold it against them, they don't know better."

She chuckled "You talk like you aren't one, I'm Lucy by the way."

"I am just more knowledgeable than most," Natsu smirked back  
"Natsu."

"Well, Natsu nice to meet you." Lucy responded, shaking his hand.

"Yeah, on another note, is that dumbass in the same school?" Natsu asked.

Lucy nodded.

"Of course he is," Natsu sighed "Well whatever."

"Hey, how did you know the Black Hand were the ones that attacked that refinery?" Lucy asked

"I, have a friend in the military," Natsu replied "He got deployed to rescue the crew on the thing before it went up, he told me about it, although it will be on the news later anyway so it won't stay a secret for long."

"Well lucky you I guess," Lucy chuckled "Well, Natsu I will see you around school if you are lucky, that is." She smirked at him in victory.

"Huh? Aren't we going to the same place, what your boyfriend meeting you around the next bend?" Natsu teased.

"You are disturbingly good at being a high schooler." Theta almost groaned into his earpiece "Well I am logging off for a bit, have fun at your first day of school."

Natsu realized Lucy had said something in between that and shook himself "Sorry, what?"

Lucy rolled her eyes "Are you sure you want to be seen around me on your first day? Might make making friends a little…difficult."

"I don't need a hundred friends," Natsu responded as the school gates came into view "I would rather have a small group of people I can rely on, and that can rely on me."

"Well don't say I didn't warn you." Lucy smirked

Natsu was only half listening as he admired the building in front of him, the gate led into a small lane lined either side by particularly bare Sakura trees, the large building front was covered in windows, he knew the lay out thanks to Theta but actually seeing the size of the school still made him breathe a little harder.

"You probably need to check into the office," Lucy said "Well it's down there." She pointed down the corridor as Natsu placed his bag into a locker and changed his shoes.

He nodded and waved as he walked in the direction she indicated "Hey, if we're lucky we might be in the same class."

"Yeah, yeah," She responded waving him off "Just hurry up, you don't want to be too late."

Natsu walked down the empty corridor as the first bell rang, he raised his hand and tried to focus a flame, a few small embers blinked into existence above his hand and floated there he shook his hand and they winked out as he sighed, he knocked on the door to the staff room and waited a moment before opening the door, a dark blue haired man with a large mustache above his mouth turned and stared at him for a moment, the ageing man took the paper from Natsu's hand and looked it over "Well, looks like you're in my class, so follow me there now, Mr. Dragneel huh?"

"Yes, sir." Natsu responded on reflex, the man raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's just Sensei around here kid," His teacher said as he walked past him, Natsu followed the man behind him and couldn't help but look around a bit, he almost bumped into the man when they stopped "Stay here a sec, I will call you in to introduce yourself in a moment."

Natsu nodded.

The man opened the door and stepped inside "Right, right settle down now." Was all Natsu heard before he closed the door.

Natsu stepped a little closer to the door, and listened intently "Now, some of you may have heard we are getting new transfer student today, well we are and here he is."

'That's calling me in?' Natsu thought as he opened the door, he scanned over his classmates as he entered the room, he walked over to the board wrote his name down and bowed respectfully "I'm Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet you."

The class broke into whispers and Natsu scanned over them again, spotting two familiar faces, one he wasn't so eager to talk to, the blonde boy from this morning stared at him with an almost murderous intent and Lucy gave him a quick wave.

"Just take an empty seat and we will get started." The teacher said simply, Natsu made his way down the aisles and took the seat beside Lucy, he nodded to her and she smirked at him "Glad you didn't get lost."

"Glad I didn't need to save you the second I walked in." Natsu retorted playfully.

She tossed a paper ball at him and it bounced off his head, Natsu leaned back in his chair and paid enough attention to the class to answer if he was asked about something, he had already completed high school technically, but if someone searched for him the last place they would look would be in a combat and engineering school, why would he go backwards? Well that was the plan anyway.

* * *

Around halfway through the day, Natsu was walking down a corridor when an alarm sounded, it signaled that a terrorist group was attacking, Natsu growled on his first day? Really? Lucy glanced up at the red blinking lights in the corridor "It might be a drill."

"All student's go to your designated evacuation areas, this is not a drill please try to remain as calm as possible." The PA announced.

"Or it's not a drill." Lucy sighed

"You go, I am going to make sure anyone in the classroom behind us make it out all right."

"Huh? Wait a seco-." The sound of glass breaking cut her off, Natsu looked at the small metal cylinder at his feet and he booted it down the hall way before ripping open the Janitorial closet and pulling Lucy in behind him, a loud bang rang out in the corridor, followed by the sound of footsteps, Natsu placed a finger over Lucy's lips to silence her as he opened the door and peered down after the attackers, there were two, each wearing an almost skin tight black suit with masks that came up to their noses, red scarf's flapped behind them as they ran low a katana held firmly along their forearms as they moved, they stopped at the class room door and pulled it open, Natsu heard a quickly muffled scream and they dragged a girl from the closest room, the process repeated a few times before the pair disappeared from sight "Go where you are supposed to go." Natsu said firmly.

"What about you?" Lucy whispered fiercely.

"I am going to see if they missed anybody, I will be right behind you I promise." Natsu smiled.

"Fine, but if you don't come out in ten minutes I am coming back and if you die I am going to kill you." Lucy threatened.

"I'll keep that in mind." Natsu responded as she ran down the corridor opposite to the direction the pair had gone, he knew the group the practiced the art of the Shinobi from ancient Japanese tradition and they want Japan to reclaim its independence, not exactly a bad thing until they started doing crap like this.

Natsu kept his footfalls silent as he pressed his back against the corridor wall, he peered around the corridor, the pair went into another classroom and Natsu pushed himself around the corridor as they disappeared inside, he slid to a stop silently outside the door, there was no scream from the inside, he put his fingers to the neck of the few people they had tied up that seemed unconscious, he felt a pulse and allowed a sigh of relief, the door opened and Natsu struck pushing up from his crouched position and slamming into the chin of the man that walked out of the room taking him completely by surprise, he fell heavily as his head connected with the wall, Natsu spun pulling his katana free and blocking the strike from the second, Natsu bounced forward slamming a kick into the man's knee as he buckled and lost his balance Natsu brought his heel around in an arc and slammed his heel into the back of the man's head, pushing his head into the tiled floor of the school, knocking him out.

Natsu moved quickly, tying the pair up after taking the uniform from the first, pulling the mask up over his face he pulled the students along with him, following the same path the other two had been going, it wasn't long before he came into to contact of more of the group and they had rounded up what was thought to be all the remaining students in the building.

"Hey! Joshua you have been awfully quiet." Natsu realized they were addressing him 'Well the cover lasted long enough.' He thought simply as he rushed the still unsuspecting man, slamming his elbow into his chin, the man stumbled and Natsu spun and planted his foot into the man's chest sending him into the pillar a small distance away in the atrium, Natsu pulled the mask down and held the Katana above his head, watching the remaining 8 of the group slowly circle him.

"Let the kids go and none of you will be hurt." Natsu commanded flatly.

"Awfully cocky for a one on eight!" The man shouted as they rushed at him in three, three followed behind that and the last two stayed close to the hostages.

Natsu spun the Katana and held it flush along his forearm blade pointing out, as the first three neared him, he spun slamming the blade against two of the swords that flew at him, placing his foot against the kneecap of the first he pressed harshly the with a bone crunching snap the knee broke, the man let out a scream of pain and Natsu spun around as he fell holding his arms close to his body as a sword passed on either side of him, Natsu pulled the second Katana free of the downed mans grasp and crossed them over his head, two swords locked against his and he spun on his heels sweeping the men up, he turned and somersaulted away , placing his heel into the closest masked man's face, he went up a little before landing on his back with a thud, he didn't get up as the final four rushed him, Natsu held the swords out beside him and closed his eyes taking a quick breath they snapped open, the first man attempted to run him through, Natsu pivoted kneeing him in the stomach, he dropped a sword and grabbed his arm, spinning him around and forcing his comrades to falter, Natsu booted the back of the man's leg forcing him to his knees, he placed his hand on his back and vaulted him, slamming both feet at once into the man who was still unbalanced from trying to avoid killing his ally, Natsu used him as a kick board and back flipped landing on the first man and knocking him out before rolling back and picking up the Katana he had dropped and staring at the last two, they were on either side of him and Natsu walked back slowly, watching each of them out of the corner of his eye, they rushed him, one struck low the other high, Natsu raised the Katana on his left to block the strike coming for his head, the sound of metal hitting metal rang out around the atrium, Natsu lifted his leg as the other blade scraped along the ground, Natsu locked against the high blade and forced the man back, letting a quick kick hit the man who had overextended himself and forcing him back, as the man stumbled backward Natsu rushed him, slamming the hilt of the Katana into his chin, the man went airborne Natsu caught his ankle and pulled him back down past him, slamming his elbow into his nose and forcing him into the ground, Natsu glared at the last man as he rushed towards him, Natsu dodged left and booted the man in the stomach he lurched forward and Natsu flipped the Katana in his hand and brought the hilt down into the back of his neck.

The two beside the hostages watched him, one looked like a woman the male snarled at him before lifting his weapon high, The woman held out her hand to stop him but he was not about to, Natsu rifled one of his weapons into the man's shoulder, he flew back and dropped the weapon, it clattered to the ground and the man his the wall hard, knocking the air and a small amount of blood from his mouth, the door behind Natsu broke open and a small team of officers rushed in, seeing only one masked person the yelled, the girl pulled something from her pouch and threw it at the ground, a large puff of smoke filled the room, and when it cleared only the unconscious men and students remained in the room.

Natsu pulled the mask of his head and tossed the swords as he vaulted through the open window on the west side of the school, he turned his head and spotted the red scarf a small distance from him, he forced himself to move faster rounding the corner a few streets ahead of the school turning, right and darting down the thing alleyway fence, the scarf popped into view in front of him and he dived catching the runner by surprise and pinning her to the ground, he looked down at the fiery brown eyes and realized that it wasn't a scarf it was her hair, Natsu stared down at the person, who only stared up at him in a mixture of anger confusion and what he could have sworn was awe, Natsu panted heavily, both from the fighting and the mini obstacle course he had taken to get ahead of her, the woman struggled against his hold but it was ultimately useless.

"Now, you can come with me easily or I can knock you out and drag you, which do you prefer?" Natsu managed to get out between breaths.

The girl just kept glaring at him.

"Look I really would prefer it if you walked by yourself." Natsu sighed.

The same glare, he pulled the mask down revealing the rather pretty face of the terrorist, she seemed to be chewing on something, his eyes widened and he grabbed her mouth and forced the substance out of it, the black and slightly gooey liquid landed on his hand and he wiped it on his pants, he pressed his fingers to the girls neck, the pulse was weak but still there, he growled and lifted the unconscious Shinobi onto his back.

"Christ sakes, why do they always try to kill themselves, why does it always have to be the hard way." Natsu complained as he jogged back towards his house.

* * *

**A/N: How many of you thought I wouldn't bring Erza in this chapter? Hah, I got ALL of you XD! But I hoped you enjoyed this, Natsu is still one of the most dangerous dudes on the planet he doesn't need cool armor to be overpowered :P, but again hope you all enjoyed and I will see you in my next chapter! Peace!**


	6. Deceit and Truth

**A/N: A few of my own philosophies in this chapter, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Natsu's door slid open easily, "I'm home!" He called out, slipping his shoes off and carrying the unconscious Shinobi into his house.

"Natsu, I should inform you drugging a woman and bringing her home unconscious is a serious offense." Theta joked, his hologram blinking to life beside him.

"Very funny Theta," Natsu sighed "Send a message to the school that I left early due to feeling unwell."

"Already done, so why do you bring a Shinobi home?" Theta asked.

Natsu paused, he could have dropped her off at _any_ hospital and gone back to school, he would only have to make up a story to fool doctors "I didn't really think about it." He answered truthfully.

He laid the unconscious red-head on the bed, placing a hand on her forehead and checking her pulse, her heartbeat was a little quickened and she had a slight fever, he left the room and wet a towel, wringing the wet cloth out and folding it he placed it on the woman's forehead, he dragged a chair closer to the bed leaned back put his feet on the edge of the bed and leaned back, rocking slowly pondering his own thoughts 'Why did I bring someone who will likely try to kill me in the morning into my home? Well, she's kind of pretty…wait did I really just?' He rocked too far back and hit the ground with a loud crash "Ow." he rubbed at his shoulder and groaned, he got to his feet and walked out to the second floor balcony, the air was cooling off as it approached the end of the day, he rested on his elbow and sighed he palm on his cheek as the sun went down on the horizon 'I have feeling she's like me, I had Theta to get me out but she is alone, I just need to talk to her and that'll be it, I definitely didn't save her because she is pretty.' He nodded and took another long inhale of the cool air before walking back into the room, lifting the chair, the girl shifted and her face held a pained expression, he picked up the towel and realized it had warmed in his contemplation session, he rinsed it out with cold water and replaced the rag on her head, her expression calmed and he sat back in his chair, watching the clock in his room slowly tick as seconds turned into hours and his eyes grew heavy, his head lulled down and his fell asleep.

* * *

The girls eyes opened slowly, she was aware of two things, one she had no idea where she was or how she was alive and two she could smell bacon and she was hungry, she pulled herself out of the bed and her head throbbed painfully, she placed a hand against her temple and massaged slowly in a circle, taking long breaths, maybe one of her group had picked her up? Last thing she remembered was that pink haired boy tackling her, she slid her spare knife out of her boot and made her way down the hallway, pressing her back against the wall and peering around the corner, she recognized the boy who was currently flipping eggs in a fry pan in the kitchen, she glared at eh back of his head as she moved towards him, using years of training to keep her footfalls completely silent, she raised the knife into the air and barely had time to gasp before she was flat on her back looking at ceiling, she frowned she hadn't even seen him move.

"Please retain from attacking him again," A hologram blinked to life above her "Especially after he saved your life."

The red head glared fire at the hologram "You hungry?" Natsu asked nonchalantly.

The red head didn't say anything, just shot him a death glare at sat down on the opposite side of the bench, he slid a plate in front of her and she peered at it for a minute, she lifted her wrist over the meal and a bright blue line appeared at the edge of the plate before scanning over it.

"If I wanted to kill you I would have done it with your knife, or while you were unconscious, or at the school where I tackled you." Natsu said flatly, leaning against the wall and chewing casually on a piece of bacon.

"Why'd your people attack that school?" Natsu asked flatly.

The girl chewed slowly and ignored him.

"What's your name?" Natsu asked

Silence was his answer.

"Most people are more appreciative of people who _save_ them and keep them out of jail." Natsu sighed.

The girl stared at him curiously, there was something in his movements 'Did he hurt himself?' He was hiding it well, almost perfectly, but it was the way he tried to move his left arm as little as possible, her eyes narrowed a little bit "Are you okay?"

"The girl has a voice!" Natsu exclaimed sarcastically.

She glared at him and pursed her lips, Natsu rolled his eyes, pulling his shirt over his head, the girls cheeks colored slightly at she stared at his well defined figure 'Did they chisel him out of stone?' Her mind questioned.

"I assure you I am 100% human," Natsu answered before smirking "And no, I am not okay." He turned slightly, a large purple welted bruise covered his left shoulder blade and it went around under his armpit, it seemed like lifting his arm was excruciating and he had cooked _her _food like that.

She let out a startled squeak, realizing she had spoken aloud, she ducked under the table slightly as her cheeks gave of steam, she took a few deep calming breaths "Thank you, for helping me."

"Hm? Oh, yeah your welcome," Natsu answered, lancing at her over his shoulder as he patted the large bruise with a small cotton bud, she assumed there was cream on it off some kind "So does our Shinobi companion have a name?"

"Erza," She bowed her head slightly trying to not stare as intently at his back 'That should be a crime' she thought angrily "But, why did you help me?"

Natsu paused "Back at the school, you wanted to stop your companion from killing the students…why?"

Erza looked at the floor "I don't believe in my comrades cause." She said resolutely.

"You don't want Japan's independence?" Natsu asked, he was a little surprised at the answer "Then why are you in their group?"

"They are the only ones that agreed to train me, after your great government killed my parents." Erza snapped

Natsu raised an eyebrow and whispered something under his breath that she didn't quite catch, she thought it sound like I knew I recognized the profile "I can assure you, the government wouldn't just kill your parents intentionally for no reason."

"They called it 'Collateral damage' and that it was unavoidable." Erza snapped.

"That was the official report," Natsu admitted "Miss Erza Scarlet."

"I didn't tell you-" He raised a hand to cut her off.

"I knew your parents," Natsu interjected "They cared about you a great deal, but the government did not kill them, I certainly would not allow _that_ kind of collateral damage."

"You?" Erza was having a hard time keeping up, this boy knew her? And he was the one who led an attack that killed her parents? 'He hasn't lied to me yet, why would he start now?'

"How much do you know about your Shinobi group?" Natsu asked, leaning over the bench towards her.

"Enough with the secrets! What do you know about my parents?!" Erza demanded

"Your Shinobi groups recruitment plan has always been the same, they make a bombing look like our governments work, then they offer the children of the killed 'revenge' all they have to do is help them with their goals…Sound familiar?" Natsu asked

Erza did remember one thing from her recruitment that always grated her, the man who had come to her had said "We can give you the means to avenge your parents death." But she had never told him that her parents died, at the time her mind was clouded in grief and revenge was the sweetest sounding thing in the world.

"No way," Erza looked shocked "I killed for them! I trusted them! I am going to kill them!" Erza growled darkly, standing from her seat.

Natsu grabbed her arm, she jerked her hand away from him and he winced as she pulled on his injured shoulder "Let me go! You can't convince to let them go, not after this!"

"What is killing them going to do?" Natsu yelled "Killing them isn't going to bring your parent's back! It's not going to make you feel better!"

"I don't care!" Erza snapped "I can't just let them go!"

"Answer me this, If your parent's could see you now, could speak to you now, what would_ they _tell you to do?!" Natsu retorted angrily.

"I, Don't, but-" She slid to the ground as a dam broke, her shoulders shook and she stared as tears fell freely from her eyes.

Natsu leaned against the wall beside her sliding down slowly, placing his good arm around her giving her a reassuring squeeze "Let me tell you a little story, there was this soldier, a really good soldier and when his was little his parents disappeared and he was taught to do anything for the mission, the mission was most important human life was a useless and trivial thing that could be sacrificed for the greater good at a moment's notice."

Erza lifted her head, she still sobbed but she seemed curious "Then what?" she managed to get out.

"He met his father," Natsu's smiled sadly "And he remembered all the things his father had taught him and how important friends were, how important _life_ was, the soldier was like you are now, he didn't know what to do, the point is there is no right or wrong decisions,_ you_ are the one that has to live with yourself, you have to wake up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror, now could you do that if you went and killed those people could you look at yourself in the mirror after doing that, if you could feel free to go," He gestured to the door for emphasis "If you don't want to, you can try to live normally again."

Erza leaned her head against his chest slightly "You are pretty bad at telling stories."

Natsu chuckled "Well, I only just started."

* * *

**A/N: I didn't originally intend for this cutesy kind of ending, but some improv happened and this is what came out of it, I like it, well I'll see you for the next chapter! Peace! **


	7. The Shinobi Order

**A/N: I got dumped and was depressed for a few days and didn't feel up to writing, I am releasing this chapter because it is the one I had the most already done and announcing my mental health break, not sure when I will get back on the horse but it shouldn't be more than a week.**

* * *

Natsu's eyes opened slowly 'I fell asleep?' it was odd, he was looking at a table, well he thought it was a table but everything was dark like he was looking at it through fabric, he frowned and tried to stretch when his hands suddenly stopped moving and the chink of metal hit his ear he realized he definitely was not at home. He pursed his lips behind the mask and squinted against the fabric as he looked around, the bare room had a glass panel in the wall and was completely bare except for the table and two chairs, he glared through the mask at the glass, trying to pull his hands free from the cuffs that bound them, all that did was hurt.

The door slid open with a low hiss and a man dressed like the ones who had attacked the school walked in "Finally awake, huh?"

Natsu didn't answer, just glared at the hazy figure. The man strode over and pulled the mask off his head, Natsu continued to glare at him.\

"Who are you? How did you manage to beat so many of us on your own? Where were you trained?" The man demanded in succession.

"Fuck you!" Natsu growled.

Natsu could see the smirk in the man's green eyes as he answered, the Shinobi rose his fist and hit Natsu hard in the face, Natsu kept glaring at him, which only earned another succession of hits, Natsu spat the blood from his mouth and continued to glare at the man beating him.

"Who are you?!" The man demanded again.

"I am your father." Natsu taunted flashing his teeth.

"Ch," The man grabbed his hair and lifted his head painfully as he glared down at him "You certainly aren't the smartest person on the planet."

Natsu barely felt the next set of blows, he knew he was having trouble seeing, he eye was swelling up and he could feel warmth leaking from his eyebrow apparently this guy could hit hard, Natsu was surprised his teeth remained interact at this point, his nose was most definitely broken and his head was numb with pain.

"Where were you trained?!" The man demanded.

"Your moms place, she has a very strict regimen." Natsu taunted groggily.

The man sneered and dropped his head, Natsu let it hang limply and wrestled with his own consciousness, he heard the door hiss open and close again and he lifted his head slowly and peered around, he was alone in the room again at least, he head and stung from the slightest movement, he ignored the pain and focused on the palm of his hand, he snapped his fingers and a spark flew from them, he growled 'I just had to burn myself out to escape.' He thought angrily as he snapped his fingers and focused on trying to heat his hands.

The door hissed open again and he returned to how he was before he was left alone "He is tough, I will give him that." The same guy from before.

"Hm?" A response was hummed in question, Natsu heard the chair get dragged out in front of him and he looked up, a white haired male stared at him impassively, he had a scar running through his left eye as he regarded Natsu carefully.

"What is your name, boy?" The man asked flatly, he voice sounded like someone drawing a blade low and as raspy as steel.

"They call me Pinocchio," Natsu chuckled before coughing and expelling a little more blood from his mouth "What about you Scarface?"

The man who had been interrogating him before slammed his fist into Natsu's stomach, Natsu groaned slightly and turned a forcefully cocky gaze on the boy "That all you got?"

The boy growled and reared his fist back before the scared man stopped him "Enough."

The boys hand dropped and he returned to his spot by the door, standing in attention and waiting, all the while glaring at Natsu.

"Oh, look at that the dogs on a tight leash." Natsu taunted

"Would you like me to release him?" The scared man asked flatly, but Natsu could see the annoyance in the man's eyes.

"Do as you please Scarface." Natsu responded flatly.

"Killing you is not something I wish to do," The scared man replied "You are very interesting, you could become a strong ally."

"Forget it, I won't join a terrorist organization," Natsu responded flatly "You may as well kill me."

"I would hardly consider the want for Japan's independence an act of terrorism." The scared man cocked his head to the side.

"Killing people and framing the government, Holding highschoolers hostage, shall I continue with your acts of terrorism?" Natsu responded sarcastically.

"I remember you," The scared man leaned back "Well, this is interesting…To think we captured the great deceased captain of Delta frame unit."

Natsu smirked at the white haired male "Sorry, wrong guy."

"Oh, I don't think so," The white haired man leaned forward "What would your superiors think if they found out you faked your death and deserted?"

"I keep telling you, you got the wrong guy…I am just lucky." Natsu kept the cocky smirk on his face the whole time.

"I would never forget the boy who gave me this," The man gestured to his scar "I was surprised you let the daughter of those two go, you were hired to keep _her_ alive above all else were you not?"

"I stuck to my mission parameter's, she is alive isn't she?" Natsu responded with a sigh.

"How the mighty have fallen," The scared man taunted "You were such a strong soldier, the perfect weapon, a remorseless assassin and master tactician and now look at you, undone by sleeping gas and a low ranking member of the Shinobi order."

Natsu chuckled "People aren't weapons, you should know very well what that means."

"The flaw in man is his emotions, they cloud ones judgment and make him do crazy things." The scared man continued "Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

"I wouldn't be caught dead in your little outfit." Natsu responded flatly

"Hm, that's just too bad, I was looking forward to fighting you one last time," The man stood and left the room "Have some fun with him and then let him bleed out, no point in wasting the bullets on him."

"Yes, Sir!" The first interrogator responded with a salute.

Natsu cocked his head to the side as the boy turned and looked at him "I think I am going to enjoy this." The man said sadistically.

"You are a hundred years too early to kill me kid," Natsu replied flatly, he pressed hard on the joint of his right hands thumb, with a crack he pulled the hand free and flew into the boy, wrapping the chain of the hand cuffs around his neck and yanking him down, the boys head rested on Natsu shoulder as he struggled to breath, Natsu pulled the chain tighter with a growl and the boys flailing stopped Natsu's grip slacked and the body hit the floor with a thud, Natsu pulled the keys from the boys belt and undid the remaining cuff, with a loud crack he pushed his thumb back into place, he winced as a shot of pain rolled up his arm, he closed his right hand slowly, the pain was tolerable.

The door opened with a hiss, he was very surprised to see familiar red hair and brown eyes staring at him, she cocked her head to the side and gave him a once over, his left eye was almost swollen shut, his cheek and eyebrow were split open and bleeding profusely, most of the upper part of his white shirt was stained red, his nose was bent the wrong way and blood leaked from his lips as well.

"You look like shit." Erza commented flatly.

Natsu bowed mockingly "I apologize your majesty, breaking my hand was the last resort to escape."

"Whatever, I found an interesting report," Erza held up a file and opened it "According to our intelligence, the Scarlet girl is being guarded by the Captain of the Delta fame unit, according to reports his job is to keep the daughter alive, targeting the parents may force her to come to us."

Natsu stared at her "I'm sorry, I should have protected your parents…At the time I focused more on the missions objectives than what was right."

Erza tapped his head with the file and he looked up "You said I could try to live normally again right?"

Natsu nodded "I would help you, but you seem like a 'go it alone' type."

"You aren't that great a team player yourself," Erza retorted "I mean I did all this work you save you and you freed yourself, your gonna have to make it up to me."

Natsu slumped 'Was that really easier than asking for a place to stay?'

"Well, I have a spare room, it's yours if you want it." Natsu said flatly walking past her.

"Now miss 'Hard work to save me' What's your escape plan?" Natsu asked

Erza looked at the floor "I hadn't planned that far ahead."

Natsu rolled his eyes "Well that white haired Scarface will probably be activating an alarm soon, he knows who I am and I definitely can't have him reporting to the government that I am alive."

"What are you going to do? You can barely walk straight." Erza noted, indicating to the hand on the wall he was using to steady himself.

"That's not really your concern, you should leave, you remember where my house is correct?" Natsu asked

Erza nodded.

"Good head there and lock the door, if I am not home in the next twelve hours, follow Theta's instructions," Natsu explained "He will make sure you set up."

Erza nodded "Okay, after we kill off Scarface we will go home."

"This is not a 'we' scenario, I am going on my own." Natsu said firmly.

"When did you become my superior and I am a normal person now so I am going to make my own decisions." Erza responded stubbornly.

Natsu sighed "Fine, I hope that sword isn't for show."

"Of course it isn't," Erza held it up proudly "I am the strongest fighter in the order."

"And clearly the most humble," Natsu taunted as he peered around the corner "Look, when this starts just do as I tell you."

Erza nodded, the lights blinked and turned yellow, they spun slowly and a loud beep was heard as the alarm sounded. Erza tightened her grip on her sword and she heard Natsu take a deep breath.

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**A/N: I know it's shitty but my emotional state is not one where writing is a good idea, so just bear with it for awhile whilst I take it easy and I will see all of you in the next chapter I release!**


	8. Facing the Order

**A/N: Had to go into a three day battle with my internet company because "I didn't pay them at all for three months" when I have been paying the whole fucking time, so they turned off the connection on me and I got lazy and didn't write when I couldn't upload, which is bad but I got the bills and proved that I am in fact a man of my word (In some aspects) So sorry for the lack of chapters this past week, I put the three chapters I missed in a hat and drew one, this is the story that gets a late update, sorry for missing a few days but there isn't much I can do about it! So without further delay here is the next chapter of this fiction!**

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Natsu stumbled slightly as he rounded the corner 'I wish Theta were here.' He mentally complained an accelerated healing factor would be great, he had almost no visibility out of the left eye and his face burned from the numerous splits from being pummeled in that room.

"Where do you think that Scar-faced bastard went?" Natsu asked

"He usually spends all his time in the Dojo, overseeing the new recruits training," Erza answered with a frown "Why?"

"This ends today," Natsu responded flatly "You are welcome to try and get out of here."

"Psh, without me holding your hand you would have died 5 times already," Erza taunted "Besides, you have no idea where you are going."

A steadily increasing thud was heard and Natsu crouched beside the corner and waited, a man rounded the corner and Natsu shot up, grabbing his arm and flipping him over, sending a hard roundhouse into his companion and giving him more room as the first target hit the ground Natsu stomped down on his head, knocking him out quickly before slamming into the one he had kicked with his left shoulder, the sword the second held clattered to the ground and Natsu stepped back and delivered two quick kicks to his chest and a third to the face.

"Follow me," Erza beckoned as she moved down the corridor, Natsu fell in behind her "We aren't that far away now, do you even have a plan?"

"Thought I'd improvise, it worked so well for you and all." Natsu retorted with a smirk

"Your hilarious," Erza rolled his eyes as she peered around the corner "Stay here a moment."

Erza straightened and rolled his shoulders and walked around the corner as if on patrol, she pretended to notice the three men in front of her for the first time and jogged up to them with a wave "You three seen anything?"

They shook their heads "No ma'am, nothing out of the ordinary this side of the base."

The PA system in the base crackled to life "Attention Noble soldiers of the Shinobi order, it seems your second in command miss Erza Scarlet has betrayed the order and is aiding the prisoner, eliminate her."

The three men placed their hands on their swords hilts, Erza rolled her eyes, with a flick the sword left her sheath and flew forward the hilt bounced of the quickest of the three and the impact slid his blade back into its sheath, Erza spun and went low as a blade flew over her head catching the sword as she brought it around her body with a spin, the three men stood stunned for a moment before their heads rolled of their shoulders, Erza flicked the blade free of blood and slid it back into the sheath. Turning around she noticed and equally stunned look on Natsu's face, she chuckled before gesturing for him to follow her again.

Natsu fell in behind her 'Probably better to not piss her off.' He mentally noted as he followed her, they emerged into an open room, the stood on a steel balcony overlooking a large square matted room, the Scar faced man leaned against the wall to the side of the room watching a set of around thirty go through simple sword forms and sparring, His eyes flittered over Natsu and you could see the smile in his eyes, he pushed of the wall and moved to the centre of the room, holding his arms out to the side drawing the attention of the trainee's, he pointed towards Natsu and Erza before speaking "The one who ends their miserably lives will be my new second in command." He announced loudly.

"Erza deal with the newbie's, I going to rip the other half of that Scar faced bastards face off." Natsu growled threateningly as he vaulted the balcony, landing on the matted floor with a soft thud another thud resounded around the room as Erza landed beside him, she drew her sword and darted forward effectively drawing the attention of most of the trainee's in the room, Natsu closed his fist tightly and the knuckle cracked as he moved towards the centre of the room, the few trainee's that didn't go after Erza darted towards him, a swords flew over his head as he ducked and slammed his fist into the boys chest, the kid flee backwards and slid along the floor, he did not attempt to get back to his feet, Natsu caught the wrist of the second and slammed an elbow into the boys chin as he stumbled Natsu pulled the sword from his stunned grasp and put the flat of the blade against his ankle before using it to flip the boy over, the last one stared at him for a moment before moving to attack him, Natsu blocked the three consecutive slashes without slowing his step before kicked the boy in the stomach, as the lurched forward Natsu delivered a straight kick to the side of his head, he rolled along the floor and stayed where he stopped.

"It seems your skills have not dulled," The scarred man announced flatly "But I have been training for this day for years!"

The scarred man charged forward, Natsu paused and lifted the sword slightly as the man neared him, Natsu blocked the first attack but did not expect the power behind it and his guard broke and he stumbled back, he gritted his teeth as he felt a burning in the top of his left arm, he fell to his knee and placed a hand over the bleeding wound before standing up again, his opponent stared at him with what seemed like a twinkle in his eye. Natsu spat and wiped his mouth as he focused on the white haired man in front of him, the man raised his weapon and charged Natsu again, Natsu dodged the first attack, locking his guard against the second the man was surprised Natsu didn't flinch from the force of the blow, Natsu delivered a quick kick to the inside of the scared mans knee and brought his sword straight along his body towards his face, the scarred man jerked his head back and a small cut opened on his cheek as he stumbled back away from Natsu, he brushed the wound with his thumb "Yes, your skills certainly have not dulled!" He announced excitedly.

Natsu let out a disapproving "Ch" and charged him, the white haired man kept on par with Natsu but seemed to be cockier than before, Natsu halted his movement and jumped back, glaring at the man in question, he tried to analyze the situation, then it hit him like a wave, his head san and he fell onto his knee, his eyes widened as he looked at the back of his hand and the edges blurred into three before fading in and out of the original.

"Looks like the poison has finally taken effect," The white haired man announced cockily "Don't worry, it isn't lethal that would take away all the fun, but it will incapacitate you for a while, long enough for me to kill that troublesome girl and come back for you."

Natsu gritted his teeth and got shakily to his feet, pulling the blade straight against his nose as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath "Your opponent is me!" He growled as his eyes opened and he growled at the man in front of him, in truth he was putting on a front there were 5 men in front of him and his head swam and his arms felt heavier than they should.

The white haired man sighed before charging, Natsu could only raise his weapon defensively and rather uselessly considering his condition, another burning sensation lit from his upper right arm and he stumbled and kept himself upright with his hand as he fell to his knee again.

"Why not just give up? It would be so much easier, I won't kill her if you join us." The white haired man offered.

Natsu gritted his teeth, if he could use his fire he could boil the poison out of his bloodstream, but at the moment all he could manage was a spark, he stared at the ground and then looked towards where Erza was fighting off the large group of trainee's, he pursed his lips together and took a deep breath, focusing his mind again he tried to heat the air around him, a few meager embers appeared before flittering out of existence.

"You burned yourself out on that refinery, just give up, there is no reason to die here." The white haired man offered again.

"No." Natsu growled drawing the attention of the scared man, who scowled as he walked towards Natsu, pulling his blade up as he walked.

"I tire of this, last chance, give up and join our order, and live!" The man growled as he approached Natsu.

"I won't give up! I REFUSE!" Natsu roared as he threw the sword away from him and focused again, the sparks appeared around him and Natsu let out a loud roar as he lowered his weight and clenched his fists, the air grew hotter before an explosion rocked the ground, flame whipped around Natsu pulling his hair in every direction, it turned the ground black and the steel walls melted slightly as he glared at the white haired man in front of him, the scarred man held Natsu stare flatly, Natsu took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he felt the dizziness leave and his arms no longer felt heavy, he opened them again and glared at the now lone opponent, Natsu rolled his neck as he walked forward, the white haired man paused and his eyes darted around.

"You have nowhere to run," Natsu growled darkly "It's over, your finished!"

The man staggered back as Natsu eyes changed, the pupils turning to slits as he lowered himself and charged, the white haired man just froze in place as Natsu slammed a flaming fist into the man's chest with bone breaking force, the man coughed and blood spewed from his mouth before he went slack around Natsu's forearm. Natsu pulled his hand out of the man's chest and flicked his wrist as the fire died down around him, the blood splattered on the ground and Natsu sighed as he looked at his arm, it was still coated in blood.

"What took you so long, it was one guy," Erza taunted from the wall opposite him "Are you really some great soldier?"

Natsu chuckled "I'm not anymore, I am just a normal teenager and I am tired."

"Yeah, yeah, well let my take you home, wouldn't want to collapsing in the street would we." Erza replied as she stood up.

"What about the great Shinobi order?" Natsu asked as he limped towards her.

"Who cares, that explosion tore a big hole in the roof, I assume the police will arrest anyone else." Erza noted as they walked.

"Yeah, I guess." Natsu nodded.

"Could you walk a little faster? What are you an old man?" Erza taunted.

"This old man is giving you a room to stay in," Natsu retorted "Show a little gratitude."

"Whatever," Erza responded, she slowed down slightly and stood beside Natsu, before pulling his arm over her shoulder, he raised an eyebrow at her as she took some of his weight "Not a word." She warned with a glare.

Natsu just smiled innocently and nodded.

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**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Tell me your thoughts, I hope you all enjoyed the read and I will see you all tommorow!**


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